1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to stretchers and machines for moving and otherwise handling invalid bed patients who are unable to move themselves or find it inconvenient to do so.
2. The Prior Art
Various means for moving patients from place to place either by hand or by the use of machines to do the lifting are known. The most familiar example is the common stretcher and the wheeled bed. There have been also sophisticated machines designed to lift stretchers bearing a patient off the bed for removal to another spot or to lift the patient by means of straps without stretchers.
Exemplary of prior art devices are the patents to Lane, U.S. Pat. Nos. 953,962; Hoyer, 2,821,406; Leininger, 1,889,925; Thompson, 771,846; Reuter, 2,272,778; Brouillette, 2,668,301; Conyers, 2,659,092; Hardy, 382,872; Reed, 292,048; Roush, et al, 1,085,704.
The prior art machines suffer from one or more defects, being either excessively complicated or impractical, inconvenient to use, or too bulky to store efficiently.
A desirable machine is convenient to use, sturdily built and has stability. However, storing such a machine is a problem when it is not in use. The prior art devices have not satisfactorily met these requirements.
The lifting and turning of patients in hospitals is necessary to prevent bed sores, to clean the patient and to administer treatment. However, the manual handling of patients by nurses is a significant source of back injuries to the nurses and a source of expense to hospitals because of resulting disabilities of the nurses. The nurses, needless to say, are adversely affected by the heavy labor and risk of injury in handling patients.